LEAD News

Dr. Genia Bettencourt, LEAD, Chosen for Prestigious Early Career Mentorship Academy

Dr. Genia Bettencourt, Assistant Professor in Higher and Adult Education in the Department of Leadership, was named to the 2022-23 NASPA Emerging Faculty Leader Academy Cohort. She will participate in professional development and educational sessions about being a leader as a faculty member in student affairs. Dr. Bettencourt is only one of seven participants invited to join this mentoring opportunity especially designed for early career to incorporate knowledge, advice and experiences from seasoned faculty/staff leaders and other experts on how faculty can provide leadership within the field. National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) is the professional home for the field of student affairs. Its mission states, “As the leading voice of student affairs, NASPA drives innovation and evidence-based, student-centered practice throughout higher education, nationally and globally” (naspa.org/about >). Dr. Bettencourt has also been selected to serve as the 2022-2024 Website and Faculty Council Social Media Coordinator on the NASPA Faculty Council.

Dr. Bettencourt says of this honor, “I’m excited to be a part of such an amazing cohort of peers as part of the NASPA Emerging Faculty Leaders Academy (EFLA) and benefit from the opportunity to be in community about faculty life. Higher education and student affairs as a field is facing so many key issues at this moment – adapting to online and hybrid environments, addressing issues of staff burnout and attrition, navigating a constantly changing pandemic, working to promote equity and social justice – that will define our work for decades to come. I look forward to having spaces to discuss these issues and to help me think about how I can best prepare my students as educators and leaders.” Learn more about the NASPA Emerging Faculty Leader Academy Cohort and Dr. Bettencourt’s peers here >.

COE Faculty and Students Present at AERA Conference

“The American Educational Research Association (AERA), a national research society, strives to advance knowledge about education, to encourage scholarly inquiry related to education, and to promote the use of research to improve education and serve the public good” (AERA mission statement). AERA’s Annual Meeting is the world's largest gathering of education researchers. The 2022 Annual Meeting will be held on April 21-26 in San Diego and virtually. The theme is “Cultivating Equitable Education Systems for the 21st Century.” Many UofM faculty and students will be represented at this conference. UofM faculty and students across all three departments will present papers, chair roundtable discussion and panels, serve as invited speakers and participate in discussions. College of Education participants include:

Celia Rousseau Anderson
Keishana Barnes
Genia Bettencourt
Aaern Nichole Cassidy
Zoe Corwin
Sheron Davenport
Anna Falkner
Stephen Edward Fancsali
Charisse Gulosino
Alison Happel-Parkins
Leigh Harrell-Williams
D’Andrea Heggs
William C. Hunter
Lauren Nicole Irwin
Eli Jones
Joseph Kitchen
Elizabeth B. Meisinger
Christian Mueller
Steven Nelson
Susan Nordstrom
Justine Piontek
Steven Ritter
Amanda Rockinson-Szapkiw
Patrick Shipp
Andrew Tawfik
Teresa Theiling
Gina Tillis
Deepak Venugopal
Luke Walden
Brian Wright
Yonghong Jade Xu
Xiaofei Zhang

Dr. Dan Collier, LEAD, Publishes Article on In-Person Learning in Fall 2020

Dr. Dan Collier, Assistant Professor in Higher and Adult Education in the Department of Leadership, had an article published in Research in Higher Education in November. His article "We Want You Back: Uncovering the Effects on In-Person Instructional Operations in Fall 2020" has already been heavily accessed, has the most online attention for articles in the same timeframe in the journal and was covered in Inside Higher Education. His article uses data from the College Crisis Initiative to explore the relationships between in-person instruction at colleges/universities in Fall 2020 and state and county sociopolitical features, state and county COVID-19 rates, and state revenue losses. His co-authors include Dan Fitzpatrick, Madison Dell, Samuel S. Snideman, Christopher R. Marsicano, Robert Kelchen and Kevin E. Wells. Dr. Collier's article is available here >.

Dr. Harrell-Williams wins Advising Award; Dr. Gnanadass receives Honorable Mention

Dr. Leigh Harrell-Williams, Associate Professor in CEPR and Co-coordinator of the Quantitative Methods Certificate received the Graduate Advisor award at the 2021 UofM Excellence in Academic Advising Awards Ceremony. Dr. Edith Gnanadass, Assistant Professor in LEAD, received an Honorable Mention. Dr. Harrell-Williams and Dr. Gnanadass were the only two faculty members who advise graduate students honored at the University-wide ceremony. Congratulations to Dr. Harrell-Williams and Dr. Gnanadass! We appreciate your hard work supporting our students!

University of Memphis named a top school for online master’s in educational leadership

The online master’s degree program in Educational Leadership from the department of leadership has been named one of the best online master’s degree programs in educational leadership by Online MastersDegrees.org. Only six percent of postsecondary institutions earned a ranking position in 2022. You can see the full ranking here >.

OnlineMastersDegrees.org researched and analyzed more than 7,700 accredited schools using data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System and from the schools themselves. The website’s data science team then applied a proprietary algorithm to rank all qualifying educational leadership programs. Primary data points include: number of online master’s programs in subject area, number of online students, online program tuition and fees, percentage of students offered institutional aid and amount of institutional aid awarded per student.

Dr. Eric Platt, Chair of the Department of the Leadership, said, “I am so proud of the faculty, staff and students who have worked to make this program excel. Our department has prioritized online access to the educational leadership program. Students across the State of Tennessee can engage in this quality program that is nationally ranked and centered on student success.”